Wimsatt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,385, discloses a carpet cleaning system which, when operated in its liquid or wet mode, includes a single spent cleaning water collection tank of rectangular cross-section provided with a combination of baffles, one horizontal and the other vertical, to insure that only air drawn in by the vacuum motor can reach the top of a central vertical pipe projecting upwardly through the collection tank. In this way, spent cleaning water cannot reach and damage or short out the vacuum motor. In this system, all of the spent cleaning water is recovered and must be handled in a single container, making for heavy lifting by the user.
Noble, U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,994, discloses a vacuum cleaning apparatus which includes a single fresh cleaning water reservoir and a single receptacle for the dirty or spent cleaning water. This configuration also poses the problem of handling the weight of all of the water at one time.
Cyphert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,218, and Palmer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,094, pertain to carpet soil extractors having a fresh cleaning solution tank and a waste or spent cleaning solution tank. These extractors also has the deficiencies noted above.
In Karpanty, U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,810, there is described a scrubbing machine in which cleaning solution, usually mostly water, is cleaned and recirculated. The machine includes a frame supported on wheels with at least one scrubbing brush supported by the frame. A squeegee and vacuum hose are located behind the scrubbing brush for removing water from the surface which was supplied to the surface near the scrubbing brush. A recovery tank and a supply tank are supported on the frame with the vacuum hose communicating with the recovery tank. An exhaust blower also communicates with the recovery tank and draws air and water through the exhaust hose and into the recovery tank, exhausting air therefrom. The recovery tank is divided by internal baffles which form a tortuous path to separate the air and dirty water as they travel through the recovery tank in the path from one end to the other. Most of the water and dirt are received in the first chamber in which the dirt settles to the bottom, and cleaner water flows over an upper edge of a separating wall into the second chamber. The water in the second chamber can then be pumped to a dirt separator located in the first chamber and from there back to the supply tank from which water and a detergent, if used, are supplied to the vicinity of the scrubbing brush. This device also presents a single spent cleaning water reservoir which requires the physical handling of all of the water in one unit.
Hughes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,062, relates to an apparatus for the recovery of contaminated air and water from a flow system in some type of vacuum apparatus. The system provides a compartmentized stacked design embodying filters that first effect a moisture separation or demisting as the wet air passes downwardly through the system and then air borne particle filtering during the upward return of the airflow, with such functions being separated by a fluid collection tank at the bottom. The apparatus provides structure for removal of the filters and collected fluid so as not to interrupt the recovery process. There is no provision for separate reservoirs or for separation of airborne water into separate reservoirs.
The present invention, in general, is a significant advance in the art in that the water and dirt contained in an airstream is uniformly divided and the water and contained dirt are deposited equally into two receptacles or reservoirs which can be subsequently removed and the liquid disposed of with a minimum of effort. The invention is of particular importance in hospitals where large floor areas are scrubbed daily. The present invention provides for the disposal of the spent wash water in easily manageable quantities.